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In that moment we were so awestruck and appreciative that worrying about what was coming was not in our schema.

For this column, I thought I would share some interesting items relating to Pesach that are in a local museum or from my personal collection.

This volume records the milestones of the life of a German Jew who left his family and homeland in 1853 to try his luck in the New World.

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As Passover approached in 1858, tens of thousands of Jews lived in Manhattan, comprising about three percent of the population, and there were thousands of poor Jews needing kosher staples for the holiday – not the least of which, of course, was matzah.

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Forty-five charedi students graduated last year, 60 percent of whom went into the IDF, mostly in the Computer and IT Directorate, and the other 40 percent in the Air Force.

It was from Matnat Chaim that Rabbi Libi learned that kidney transplants are reasonably safe procedures. Potential donors are screened carefully to check that their kidneys are healthy.

What is unusual in this order of prayer is that the Empress Maria Theresa is recalled as one of the most antisemitic and hostile rulers in modern Jewish history.

The question of the extent to which Mendelssohn identified with Judaism is still passionately debated, as authorities continue to argue about his self-identification as a Jew, as a Christian convert, or both.

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Through giving, we connect to others, but we also connect to Hashem by imitating Him. This imitation creates similarity, and similarity leads to connection.

During the initial year-and-a-half of its existence, the Vaad concentrated its efforts on assisting the over 2,600 Polish rabbis and yeshivah students who had escaped to Lithuania, and trying to arrange their emigration overseas.

Ben Gurion used the broad public demand in Israel for a retaliatory action against Egypt to launch a February 28, 1955, attack on Gaza in which 39 Egyptians were killed and Israel suffered no casualties.

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This manuscript of approximately 450 pages is dated 1891. It contains 32 chapters, written under the pseudonym Yeshay Ben Amotz, perhaps a play on his last name Schaikewitz.

Dear Tsadik, I have two candlesticks given to us by an aunt years ago that she claimed belonged to her parents, pre-Holocaust. Can you tell...

Although Haffkine personally donated funds to purchase land in Eretz Yisrael, he was not a political Zionist who considered a Jewish state as necessary for Jewish survival...

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The masses who had visited Rav Chaim seeking his beracha and advice during his lifetime would not let anything keep them from coming to mourn and showing their respects and appreciation for him after his death.

Deinard's antiquarian activities, which involved constant travel throughout Europe, the Orient and America, gave him a unique acquaintance with scholars, private collectors, fellow booksellers and libraries.

The success of the Chidon Ha-Tanach launched other Bible contests, including a competition sponsored by the IDF (Israel Defense Force), and numerous local and regional quizzes, usually also held on Yom Haatzmaut, reflecting the broad popularity of learning Torah even among secular Israelis.

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The manuscript, written in the late 19th century, contains a varied collection of songs in Arabic but written in the Hebrew alphabet, using the cursive Solitreo script.

Violators of the law could receive a six-month jail term. According to Superintendent Kennedy, the “masquerade or fancy dress ball or entertainment” exception apparently did not apply to Jews dressing up for Purim.

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Jews were among the first Europeans to settle in Bulawayo; the first white child born there, in April, 1984, was Jewish.

As often is the case, the strongest motivational factor to do something is when somebody tells you that you can’t do it.

When his grandfather passed away, Dov Yehuda Daina replaced him as judge and religious authority. He was raised in Slutsk during the first eleven years of his life and in fact began studying at the Slutsk yeshiva.